Something to Talk About
by xXMXx
Summary: Playful flirtations take place between Chad and Taylor within East High School walls and go seemingly unnoticed. Will either stop them before they go any further? Or has their relationship already been discovered? Chaylor!


**Something to Talk About** - Playful flirtations take place between Chad and Taylor within East High School walls and go seemingly unnoticed. Will either stop them before they go any further? Or has their relationship already been discovered? Chaylor!

**A/N:** To anyone waiting for my fic entitled 'Guilt', it may be a while. I'm halfway through writing it but I'm completely piled under heaps and heaps of work.

I hope you enjoy this short Chaylor piece in the meantime. It's definitely not my best and I don't really like it but I had to write something. There are probably a lot of mistakes too so… sorry.

**Disclaimer:** High School Musical and all it's characters are not my genius.

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Troy noticed.

He was doing it again. Staring into space with that look on his face. It wasn't uncommon for Chad to daydream during classes. In fact, in any class taught by Ms. Darbus, daydreaming was the norm for everyone. What was unusual however, was for Chad to be daydreaming before the class had even started. And it wasn't the first time this week either.

He watched his best friend sitting at the desk next to him, his head resting on his hand, elbow resting on the table with a dreamy and dazed look on his face. He saw Chad smile briefly at seemingly nothing but his thoughts.

Troy noticed.

Of course he'd noticed. He'd known Chad for ever and had never witnessed him act so… blissful. It was weird. It was freaky. It had to stop. And Troy needed to find out why it had started in the first place.

Chad noticed.

The way she gently laid out all her equipment for the lesson on her desk perfectly. There wasn't a pen out of place. He'd noticed a few days ago. Since then, he'd watched her at the beginning of every class with awe and intrigue. Taylor was a perfectionist. She was neat and organised and everything about her was always perfect. It had to be perfect. Perfect.

Taylor noticed.

He was still watching her. She could see him out of the corner of her eye and, if she wasn't mistaken, she'd swear he had a smile on his face. She risked a glance in his direction and their eyes met. At first, caught in the act, Chad looked a little shocked and embarrassed but quickly and smoothly flashed her a small smile. Naturally, she smiled back.

Ryan noticed.

Those passionate glances across the room. When their eyes met and they thought no-one was looking. He saw it all. And from his position behind Taylor, he heard it all too.

It had started at the beginning of one of Darbus' classes. Taylor had finally caught Chad staring at her and asked him politely why he was doing it. He didn't answer the question, instead opting to ask her if she laid her stuff on her desk like that every day. Ryan saw Taylor blush and ask him bashfully; "You noticed?"

Ryan noticed.

Not the unusual way Taylor unpacked her bag. No, not that. He noticed, day after day, their conversations building into a playful, friendly banter. He noticed them getting closer. And he had to tell someone about it.

Taylor noticed.

Chad wasn't half as brainless as she'd expected. Actually, she found herself having some quite enjoyable conversations with him. He was funny and surprisingly intelligent. Maybe not such a lunk-head after all.

Chad noticed.

For a geek, Taylor was pretty cool. And talking to her was a nice change from his usual basketball related conversations with Troy. In a weird way, talking to Taylor at the beginning of class set Chad up for a good day. Their short conversations certainly made him happier.

Sharpay noticed.

No snide remarks. No insults. No sniggering or making jokes. Not one dirty look. And he hadn't called her 'ice-queen' in almost two months. Something was definitely up with Chad Danforth.

Sharpay noticed.

Ryan had mentioned something about Chad acting different a while back and she had shrugged it off but now, she realised, he may have been right. Either he was losing her power over people or something had happened to completely change Chad's attitude. Whatever it was, she had to know.

Chad noticed.

The cute way Taylor's nose wrinkled when she laughed. And how easily she could make him laugh too. He realised how much happier he'd gotten in the past few months and knew that he had Taylor to thank for that. He knew that he had to make it up to her. Somehow.

Taylor noticed.

Chad was all smiles lately. Something about that made her happy too. Something about Chad made her happy. She found that she was feeling things she'd never felt before. He made her feel wanted and special and important, like she meant something to him while simultaneously making her nervous and anxious that she'd say the wrong thing and mess it all up.

Taylor noticed there was a note from Chad in her locker amongst her books.

Gabriella noticed.

Taylor was acting different. Suspicious. And every once in a while, strange as it sounds, she'd just disappear. It had started one lunch-time when Taylor had been packing her books into her locker. One moment, she'd been chatting along as usual, the next she was silent with a pensive and slightly pleased look on her face.

She took a small piece of paper out of the locker, read it quickly and stuffed it into her pocket. With a grin on her face, she told Gabriella that she had to go and, with no further explanation, she hurried away.

Gabriella noticed.

This was starting to happen more frequently, almost every other day. Taylor would be missing for the whole of lunch, then return for her afternoon lesson looking mysteriously content. Gabriella was glad her friend was happy but something in her was still curious as to why.

Zeke noticed.

Chad wasn't at basketball practice. Chad never missed basketball. Or, at least, he never used to. This had to be the third time he hadn't shown up in as many months and when he did bother to make an appearance, he was completely unfocused. It was clear his thoughts were somewhere else. But what could possibly be more important than basketball? What better thing could Chad be doing with his time?

Taylor noticed.

He was there. In their usual meeting place behind the school. Waiting for her. He never let her down. He'd never stood her up. He stood as she approached and his face lit up at the sight of her. He opened his arms and she walked into his embrace. His arms closed around her and she relished in the feeling of her body against his.

"Hey." He said quietly, not yet letting go of her.

"Hi." She replied.

This was often the highlight of her day. These secret meetings with Chad outside school where they couldn't be caught. The fact that they had to spend the entire day in close proximity to each other without showing any sign of compassion for each other was hard. She often had a physical struggle just to stop herself from grabbing him and kissing him every time they passed each other in the hallway. Something about the whole risk of it made it all the more romantic though. And their reunion at the end of the day was always well worth the wait.

"Good day?" He asked, releasing her at last from his tight hug.

She took a step back and looked up at him. "Not bad." She shrugged.

"I never got the chance to tell you," Chad started. "I love what you've done with your hair."

Taylor smiled and self-consciously stroked the side of her hair. "Thanks."

"It shows your face better." He continued. He raised a hand to her face and gently stroked her cheek.

Taylor's smile grew. Yep, waiting all day to talk to him was definitely worth it.

Chad noticed.

The back door of the school, close to where he stood with Taylor, began to open. He used the same hand that had been cupping her cheek to gently grab her arm and pull her with him behind a dumpster.

A surprised and confused Taylor open her mouth to speak but Chad put a finger to his lips and nodded his head in the direction of the now fully open door. Taylor looked and realised why she was crouched with him behind the large bin.

Kelsi.

What she was doing there, Chad didn't know, but he did know that if she caught him and Taylor together then the news of their unusual relationship would spread, and that could not happen.

Taylor bit her lip and watched carefully as Kelsi walked unknowingly straight past them. They waited until she was completely out of sight before moving.

Chad heaved an exaggerated sigh of relief as he stood up. "That was close." He said as he held his hand out for Taylor to pull herself up.

When she was back to her original height, Taylor replied; "Too close."

Chad nodded in agreement. "We need to be more careful." He acknowledged. "If we get caught…"

"I know," Taylor said. "Breaking the status-quo… you and me…. That'd really give people something to talk about." She joked.

"Well," Chad said throwing an arm over Taylor's shoulder and leading her away from the dumpster. "Luckily for us," He continued. "No-one's noticed."

**END**

**A/N:** Okay, a lot of repetition of the word 'noticed'. I hope you don't mind. Please review! XxX


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